Asda withdraws diet meals in Slimming World row: Weight loss organisation seeks injunction after saying it did not ...

March 20,2017 03:28

Asda has withdrawn a range of diet ready meals from stores after a legal row with Slimming World. Packaging on the supermarket's Slimzone meals, which launched in January, stated the food was 'free to enjoy following the Slimming World Extra Easy Plan'.

Asda launched brand of Slimzone meals for people to follow Slimming World dietThe weight loss company said they are 'trading on the back' of their brandThe products, costing Â£2.50, are 50p cheaper than Slimming World mealsÂ Published: 23:49 GMT, 19 March 2017 | Updated: 01:20 GMT, 20 March 2017

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Asda has withdrawn a range of diet ready meals from stores after a legal row with Slimming World.Packaging on the supermarketâ€™s Slimzone meals, which launched in January, stated the food was â€˜free to enjoy following the Slimming World Extra Easy Planâ€™.But the weight loss organisation, which has a list of â€˜free foodsâ€™ it considers healthy and customers can eat while following its diet plans, has sought a legal injunction, claiming it had not endorsed the range and that it was not given enough information to make an accurate assessment of the ingredients. Asda has taken down a range of diet-friendly meals after Slimming World accused the supermarket of 'trading on the back' of their brand (file photo)The company said Asda was â€˜trading on the backâ€™ of its â€˜much-lovedâ€™ brand to promote the products, which cost Â£2.50 and were 50p cheaper than Slimming World meals sold in rival store Iceland.Last night Asda said the meal packs included a statement informing customers the range was not endorsed by Slimming World, but confirmed it was removing the 12 meals from its 600 stores.A spokesman for Asda said: â€˜We take great pride in the integrity of the claims we make about our products. The supermarket's Slimzone meals say they are 'free to enjoy when following the Slimming World extra easy plan'. The meals cost 50p than the diet company's range in Icelandâ€˜Recent information has come to light indicating that the method used by Slimming World to assess whether a ready meal is free or not, surprisingly, is partly subjective and involves more than simply making food with free ingredients.â€˜Slimzone was always intended to bring more choice and lower prices to customers shopping for healthy frozen ready meals but because of this new information, we have chosen to remove the range while we consider the best option for our customers.â€™Â Slimming World said Asdaâ€™s decision to withdraw the meals comes before a court hearing next week in which the firm will â€˜seek an injunction over the trademark issueâ€™.Â A spokesman added: â€˜Although we repeatedly asked Asda to give us a more detailed breakdown of the ingredients used, they would not supply those details â€“ so we were unable to confirm whether or not the meals would be designated as free food on Slimming Worldâ€™s healthy eating plan.â€˜Itâ€™s always been our view Asda were misusing our trademarks to promote the range Â trading on the back of our much-loved and respected name and reputation, regardless of whether the meals count as Free Food on our healthy eating plan.â€™ Asda confirmed it was removing the 12 meals in the range from its 600 stores. A spokesman said:Â â€˜Slimzone was always intended to bring more choice and lower prices to customers shopping for healthy frozen ready meals'She said Slimming World hoped Asda would be able to re-launch the range without using its trademarks or name.Asda said the meal packs included a statement informing customers that the range was not endorsed by Slimming World.The supermarket Iceland sells a range of Â£3 ready meals which is endorsed by the diet plan. Asdaâ€™s new diet meals were being sold at Â£2.50 each.Â